Sports Shoes and Methods for Manufacturing and Recycling of Sports Shoes

Abstract

A sports shoe includes an upper wherein a majority by weight of the upper is made from a thermoplastic base material and a sole wherein a majority by weight of the sole is made from the same thermoplastic base material. The sole and the upper are individually fabricated and joined to each other. The thermoplastic base material includes at least one of the following materials: thermoplastic polyurethane TPU, polyamide PA, polyethylene terephthalate PET, or polybutylene terephthalate PBT.

That which is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for recycling a sports shoe comprising multiple components, each component comprising a majority by weight of a thermoplastic base material, the method comprising:
 recycling the components of the sports shoe in a recycling process without separating the components from each other prior to introducing the components into the recycling process; and   recovering the thermoplastic base material from the recycled components.